Was it so important to know what Jesus wrote in the sand?

Have you ever wondered about the true significance of this story? We seem focused on the mundane, for instance the first comment I hear from women are "well, where was the man? It takes two to tango... blah, blah, blah" or the younger set always wants to know "what did Jesus write in the sand?"







The true lesson wasn't about the role the man played in the act of committing adultery or why we need to know what Jesus wrote and if it was significant. The lesson is about judgment. Remember, Jesus tells the woman, "Nor do I condemn you, go and sin no more." He was acknowledging her sinfulness but not condemning her. Our true judgment will come for us when we go before God at our own final judgment. The Pharisees were trying to test Jesus on the Law of Moses and the Israelites, yet Jesus turns the tables on them. He reminds us we will be measured as to how we measure. For some it will be a harsh call. For the woman's accusers it was a humbling and pointed statement with regard to their own sinfulness. What is also interesting to note is that the accusers walked off before they heard Jesus' words of admonition. They were only baiting him, they could have cared less if the woman was stoned to death for her sin or not. For them the "fun " was over, Jesus was not going to play the game.





From the guilty to the innocent. The next day's reading brings us to Susannah, innocent yet accused of adultery and brought to judgment before the King. Susannah was spared because of her faith in the One, True God. It is our faith that leads us to righteousness. By our faith is reflected that which we do and the way we live our lives. Susannah had true faith and it was reflected in her prayers and in the confidence she had that God would spare her. We don't know for sure what happened with the woman caught in adultery but we are led to believe she went away with a new found faith in the One, True Christ. The woman was probably moved more spiritually because of the compassion of Christ and knew her sinfulness than if she had been stoned for the crime she had committed against the Law of Moses and died with no remorse only resentment in her heart for what she might have seen as an injustice.

If we pay close attention, woman will play a major role in the coming readings of the Gospel. It will be the women who watch and wait for Jesus during his Passion as well as on Resurrection Morning in the garden. It will be the women who get the "news" first, it will be the women who will keep the faith. Watch and wait for it...

What will we do with this new day?

I realize I have been in a "funk" since my last post, all doom and gloom. I have been thinking and discussing about the judgment of God on our society. It is like Moses allowing divorce among the Israelites, he only allowed it because of their hardness of heart, Jesus tells the Jewish people it was not always so, nor was it meant to be. Basically He was saying you wanted to divorce and wouldn't shut up about it, so here you go. I wonder now if we are not the same. God sees the chaos that materialism brings, God sees the destruction of the unborn and has allowed us to "reap what we sow". The evidence is in our liturgy, our Congress, our world leaders, our media, our schools, and sadly our Catholic schools have not been immune to the infiltration of this hardness of heart.

God has not turned his back on us, we as a society have turned our back to Him. Our society has deemed that its wants and needs come before God and in his infinite mercy and wisdom have granted us what our hearts desire. And in his infinite wisdom He will welcome us back with open arms once we realize the error of our ways. Like the Prodigal Son, He will enfold us in His loving arms and give us another chance to redeem ourselves. How many times have we granted a child something they wanted, not because it was necessarily good for them but because they wanted it or we just gave in. God as a loving Father is doing the same thing. He loves us and wants what is best for us and that is to get to heaven and rest in His Beatific Vision. But He wants us to do so willingly, He will not force us, that would not be love.

This morning while reading my prayers, I came across this in the Magnificat, "Every morning we arise afresh in Christ our light. Ancient Christian writers warn against 'morning demons': yesterday's worries and grievances returning to poison the new day." I realized that is what I had been doing, letting the doom and gloom of all my fears affect my attitude. I am still frightened, but I know this new day will bring me a new opportunity to love others and be Christ to someone else. Every day we are given a new chance to turn back to God and to help someone else turn back to God. So I will continue to fight for the unborn when it comes to legislation, I will continue to encourage my priest to face "ad orientem" and lead us in the liturgy and I will speak up when I see blatant materialism take over my Catholic community. God must come first in all aspects of our lives if we are going to set things right in our society. God has given us a new day, now what are we going to do with it?